“Carrie is going to obey, I think, the most frequently repeated command in the Bible,” said Gallagher. “Be not afraid. God bless you, Carrie.”

“Thank you for thousands of Americans who have believed in me, who have supported me, who have been in this fight with me,” said Prejean. “I cannot thank you enough.” Rightwingwatch has video, and there’s more after the jump.

There was huge applause, and then Prejean got to topic of her speech: Herself. Some highlights:

- “I’m sure a lot of you have seen me on the news and heard me in interviews.”

- “As I entered into the pageantry world, I was raised as a total athlete. I was a complete jock. I played four sports. I was a varsity basketball starter.”

- “I entered into the pageant, and from there, I just became so successful with it. And anything that I put my mind to, and anything I was determined to do.”

- “I always saw pageants as doing better for the world.”

- “I never thought that I would be up on a stage representing, you know, the state of California.”

- “I even had an accent-modification coach, because some people said I sounded like I was from the midwest. I guess I say my Os funny.”

- “I felt very proud of who I had become.”

- “You can be an athlete and be feminine at the same time.”

After much of this, Prejean finally told the story of the fateful pageant night. “In my head,” she said, “I could not believe that they were asking that question at Miss USA. I thought it was extremely inappropriate for that venue.” The crowd rose up with applause. “In my head, I was asking: ‘God, why are they asking this question?’”

From there, Prejean told the story of the backlash as the packed ballroom listened raptly.

“I don’t know why chose to attack my mother, my father, my 90-year old grandmother, on a daily basis,” said Prejean. “There was something wrong with turning on the TV and seeing people mock me for my faith.”

Prejean turned on the heat from there. “I am disgusted with the way some people can be so intolerant. It disgusts. But you know what? I am here today because I am still standing. I have not been defeated.”

The crowd was with her. “For the thousands and perhaps millions of Americans who have followed me, who have believed in me, and seen me as just a little beauty pageant girl who was supposed to say ‘world peace.’”

Prejean almost let her emotions get the better of her. “I may not have won the crown that night,” she said, then paused for four seconds, apparently choked up. “I know the Lord has such a bigger crown waiting for me.”

–

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We will make the case that her title was taken from her solely because of her support of traditional marriage. [Miss California USA official] Keith Lewis has refused to clear her good name or even to admit any wrongdoing.  Therefore, Carrie Prejean is left with no alternative but to take her case to court where she expects to be fully vindicated.

The 15 minutes tick on …

Here’s my message to Carrie: Congratulations. Free at last. Free at last. Free at last to craft your own mission and message. God has a plan for you Carrie and we look forward to watching and applauding the next stage in your journey towards Christ.

The whole email is below the fold.

Dear Friend of Marriage,

You’ve heard the news: Miss California USA pageant official Keith Lewis fired Carrie Prejean. Hollywood is doing a tribal war dance. We’re appalled. We’re outraged. But we are not worried about Carrie.

Keith Lewis also admitted on national television that he didn’t even pick up the phone and call Carrie to tell her before he alerted the media. What kind of boss acts like that? It tells you everything you need to know about who was acting in bad faith here.

Carrie Prejean was asked a question: Do you support gay marriage? She answered honestly—like millions of others in California and across this great country: No. Of course not.

From that day forward the attacks have been unremitting.

First they attacked her, then they tried to get her to recant, then they threw mud at her, now they fired her and continue to besmear and besmirch her. Pageant officials like Keith Lewis claim they want to move on and yet they are going on national TV to attack her, her lawyer, and even her pastor!

What kind of people act like this?

Of course Carrie isn’t perfect, but she is honest, courageous and strong in standing up for the truth about marriage. She’s being attacked not for anything she ever did wrong but for one great thing she did right! And she’s not the only one. Thousands of decent, honorable, law-abiding, good Americans are facing attacks because they, like Carrie, have the courage to speak truth to power, to stand for God’s truth about marriage.

So here’s my message to Carrie: Congratulations. Free at last. Free at last. Free at last to craft your own mission and message. God has a plan for you Carrie and we look forward to watching and applauding the next stage in your journey towards Christ.

And here’s my message for you: Help us get the message out!

Carrie’s new website, StandWithCarrie.com, was launched today. Please take a minute to visit her site, and then send a message to five of your friends.

By now, you’ve probably seen our TV ad highlighting the venom that has been directed at Carrie, and that generated so much attention 6 weeks ago. (Click here to watch the ad.) This ad has already been wildly successful, reaching millions with its poignant message, and yet there’s more work to be done!

Same-sex marriage isn’t just about two people living as they please, but about whether a large majority of Americans are going to be marginalized as bigots by a group of elites determined to force their new vision of marriage on the entire nation.

Will you help us get this message out today? With your help, we’ll expand our ad buys into new markets, increase our online outreach, and together reach our goal of “two million for marriage.”

I am a Christian and I am a model.  Models pose for pictures, including lingerie and swimwear photos. The photos of me taken as a teenager have been released surreptitiously to a tabloid website that openly mocks me for me for my Christian faith. I am not perfect and I will never claim to be perfect.  But the attacks on me and others who speak in defense of marriage are precisely the kind of intolerant, offensive attacks that I hear some in the gay community say are hurled at them for their opinions.  No one should have their opinion silenced through vicious and mean-spirited attacks on ones character and integrity.

The group’s president, Maggie Gallagher, adds her voice in solidarity “as a former unwed mother” who knows that “you don’t have to be a perfect person to have the right to stand up for marriage.”

“In a split second, she spoke up for her truth — the truth,” said Gallagher. “She chose the truth over a tiara.”

Prejean, who readjusted the microphone to accommodate her extra foot of height, said she was there to “encourage people to stand up for what they believe in.”

“I do not want to raise my own children in a world where this traditional version of marriage is viewed as hateful or discriminatory.”

Prejean took one soft question on how she was responding to attacks (“Like I said in the interview on the ‘Today’ show, my answer was biblically correct, not politically correct.”) before starting to bristle.

“That is a silly question,” she said, asked if she would get into politics. “No.”

“Inside Edition” asked if she had a reaction to news that the Miss California organization had paid for her cosmetic surgery. “I’m not going to answer that.”

She passed on a question about ex-gays and took affront at a question about whether she was in the know about California law. “I’m here representing California,” she said, “not just as Miss California, but because 7 million people voted for traditional marriage.”